The Fire Brand Known as Mani Ratnam | Most Inspiring Tamil Director

With Mani Ratnam’s latest film, OK Kanmani being the talk of the town we at Plumeria Films present you with a column on the Fire Brand known as Mani Ratnam.

In Tamil Cinema mass action entertainers are the ones to usually get all the hype and hoola. It is extremely unusual for romantic movies to get a lot of hype without mass actors unless it is a Mani Ratnam movie. Mani’s last film before OK Kanmani was a complete washout at the box office and this made some critics and audiences alike question his future career. ManiRatnam has once again reincarnated himself with the success of OK Kanmani. The director has not only proved his box office power but also his ability to adapt himself to the modern generation. But Mani is beyond all this!  Why you ask? A clear example is the kind of fan base he has.

Recently when my mother was discussing about OK Kanmani she referred to the movie as a “Mani Ratnam” film! My mother rarely refers to a movie by a director’s name. Infact, most of the time she is clueless as to who the director is. When even those who rarely watch movies start to refer to a movie with the director’s name, it shows his sheer brand power in Cinema even despite a few failures. Mani is also one of the few directors that has succeeded in presenting contemporary realistic love stories for three generations :MounaRagam (1986), Alaipayuthey (2000), and now OK Kanmani (2015). Mani Ratnam has also made a trend of sorts in Tamil Cinema by opting for a complete non Tamil pair in the film OK Kanmani.

With OK Kanmani Mani Ratnam has not tried anything new however the simple characterization of both Aadhi and Tara are completely relatable to today’s youth. The cute performances of both Dulquer Salmaan and Nithya Menon are going to be remembered in the years to come. OK Kanmani can be considered as Ratnam’s most modern film to date as it portrays the open-minded ideologies of the new generation. Mani Ratnam has perhaps perfected himself in the presentation of romantic movies and has shown us that he is still young at heart. In OK Kanmani Mani Ratnam shows that he is capable of bringing out deeper emotions when required without any overdramatic elements. This is also major achievement as it is the ace director’s quickest release to date. The film began shooting towards the end of 2014 and was finished within this year. This clearly shows everyone the sheer effort the team put in to bring out a feel good entertainer.

Mani Ratnam has been an excellent inspiration for other well knownTamil directors such as Selvaraghavan, Gautham Menon, and Ameer in creating realistic movies with excellent human characteristics. Mani Ratnam has had his bad moments but that doesn’t stop him from making movies because of one reason: PASSION FOR FILMS. Mani is considered as a family member to the audiences and Indian Cinema. When a family member disappoints us in something, or makes a mistake, we would not stop supporting them JSame goes for Mani Ratnam. OK Kanmani proves that the Director’s fan base is unshattered and the love for Mani Ratnam will only keep growing in the years to come.

The Fire Brand Known As Mani Ratnam
– a column by Sudarsh Krishnan